Block for repairing t-rails



'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SANFORD MASON AND EDWARD M.- DAVIS, OF MICHIGAN CITY, INDIANA.

BLOCK FOR REPAIRING 'ZE-RAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,281, dated May 18, 1858.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that we, SANFORD MAsoN and EDWARD M. Davis, of Michigan City, in the county of Laporte and State of Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Constructing Apparatus for Repairing the T-Rails of Iron Tracks of Railroads; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the let-ters of reference marked thereon, Figure l of said drawings being a side elevation of the apparatus or T-rail block; Fig. 2, an end elevation; Fig. 3, a vertical longitudinal section, and Fig. 4L a vertical cross-section. Fig. 5 is an apparatus for the same purpose and on the same principle, but of somewhat different construction, and Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section of the same.

The nature of our invention consists in constructing a jointed anvil capable of being easily opened and closed and so as to fit the T or other rails for the purpose of holding them in proper position while they are being repaired.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we describe its construction and operation as follows:

In all the figures like letters refer to like parts and in said figures the bed-piece or main casting is indicated by the letters A A and the clamps which embrace and hold the rails in position by the letters B B. In the arrangement shown in Fig. l the clamps or chops B B are attached to or combined with the main bed-piece A A by means of the trunnions C C and the curved bearings D D and E E, Fig. 3, which are concentric with the trunnions C C, upon which trunnions the clamps move or turn, as upon centers, when they are opened to receive or liberate the rail and for the purpose of allowing the clamps to repose iirmly or solidly upon the curved bearings D and D, the clevises which embrace the trunnions C C are freed out, as shown, so as not to present any obstruction to the closing of the bearings E E of the clamps upon the bearings D D of the bed-piece. These clamps or chops are molded to receive the rail and should be made to correspond in pattern with it, as otherwise the rail would be altered in form by the action of the hammering, While hot, upon it in the process of repair. Both clamps are opened simultaneously by pressing down the foot-lever F, Figs. l and 3, which is suspended by the staple Gr, Figs. 2 and 3, and kept in position by the studs m and n, Figs. 2 and 3. When the clamps B B are opened by means of the foot-lever F and the rail to be repaired placed between them, the removal of the foot from the lever deposits the clamps in the position shown in Fig. l, with the rail iirmly grasped between them, the clamps and bed-piece thus combined forming by their united weight a solid basis of suiiicient capacity for the purpose of thorough repair. The same general principles of construction and effect will also apply to the plan shown in Figs. 5 and 6. But instead of trunnions upon the bedpiece to carry the clamps we form recesses in the bed-piece to receive the ends of the clamps, as shown at H, Fig. 5, and at the opposite end an adjusting block K which is set up by the screw L and secured by the screw M. In this arrangement the thrust or strain of the work, instead of coming upon the curved bearings D and E, as shown in Fig. 3, is completely thrown upon the bearings H and K, which makes the use of the set screws L important, of which there is one on each side, as they make the apparatus adjustable, so as to grip the rail with any required degree of tightness. The molded'part N in both plans is a swage block for dressing the sides of the rails when required.

Having thus described the nature, construction and mode of operation of our improved T-rail block, what we claim therein as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- The method by which we combine the clamps B B with the bed-piece or mainblock A A by means of the studs or trunnions C C and the concentric bearings D E and E D substantially as herein described.

SANFORD MASON. E. M. DAVIS.

Witnesses:

L. B. WRIGHT, WM. B. W. OBRIAN. 

